The Bugs with the Bones
by AoiKuroNekoSan
Summary: Dr. Melinda Hart is Hodgins' assistant, as well as his and Zack's best friend. She is intimidated by Brennan, and a bit jealous of Angela. Life is comfortable and quiet before Agent Booth shows up-but sometimes, change is for the better. New title.
1. The Girl in the Water pt1

**Hi everybody. Here's my experimental Bones fanfiction. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but it's going to be a character insert with an assistant for Hodgins named Melinda Hart (**shout out to Hart Hanson, the series creator**). Tell me if you guys like her.**

**BTW, I don't own Bones at all**. **Fox Network does.**

"Oh, Angela." Mel stared at the bright pink outfit of her co-worker. "You're back. What're you all dressed up for?" Angela slumped down in the chair next to her with a sigh.

"I went to pick up Bren but we got stopped by homeland security." She said matter a factly. Mel's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" She squeaked.

"Yeah, it looked a little fishy, but it's Dr. Temperance Brennan we're talking about here, so she should be fine." Angela eyed Mel's drink. "What's in the cup?" She asked.

"Chocolate milkshake, help yourself." She said, nodding distractedly. Angela reached over,

"Don't mind if I do." and took a large sip with pleasure. She laughed suddenly. "You should've seen it when they checked her bag though."

"Hmmm? What happened?" Mel asked curiously, fitting a new slide into her microscope.

"Well the guy opened it up and there was the skull staring back up at him…and Bren was all like, 'Boo!' it was hilarious." Mel gave a small smile.

"That's Dr. B alright." She said, in a mixture of awe and affection. Then she leaned over the microscope and began muttering to herself. "Cicindela campestris…green tiger beetle." Her brow furrowed, "But those are mostly located in Europe and the dead guy supposed to be from Maine…" Angela took another slurp of the smoothie.

"Do I even want to know?" She asked dubiously.

"Just identifying some particulates off of one of Zack's skeletons from limbo—the boss says it'll be good practice for me."

"Sounds fun." Angela said in a tone that suggested the opposite.

"It's okay." Mel said truthfully. She reached over to pull over another slide. "It is a lot of busy work though…so if you don't mind leaving for a bit, hopefully I'll can get this finished before Brennan arrives. Things always get a thousand times more hectic when she's around." Angela shrugged.

"Sure, I'll be going then." She made her way towards the door, but Mel frowned and held out her hand.

"My milkshake." She said firmly. Angela smiled, shook the empty cup up and down, and continued to leave the room.

"Thanks for the drink sweetie! It was delicious…" She called. Mel growled.

"You owe me one Montenegro!" She yelled after the older woman.

* * *

><p>About ten minutes later Mel finally discovered an answer to the contradictions in the data, and rushed over to Zack, Petri dish of evidence in hand.<p>

"Hey Zackie." She said, stopping abruptly to avoid running head long into her friend. "What's with the rush?"

"Melinda. Dr. Brennan is back." Zack explained quickly, he was adjusting some knob on his camera as he strode foreword. Mel, her legs a whole lot shorter then Zack's, had to jog to keep up with the guy.

"And…?" She prompted him as they reached the glass door.

"She has called me over to a crime scene for assistance." He finished. He stepped outside and looked around, brow furrowed.

"Okay." Mel nodded. "Do you need a ride?" Zack frowned down at her. She knew that he found her driving sub-par but she kind of hoped she could see what this crime scene was all about.

"I suppose…" He looked as if he was debating it when a Medico-Legal Jeffersonian (Anthropology Unit) van drove up. A man popped his head out of the back.

"Mr. Addy?" The man asked. Zack nodded.

"I am Zack Addy." He answered, somewhat cheerfully. The man motioned towards the inside of the truck.

"I have been informed to take to you Dr. Brennan's crime scene." He finished.

"I won't need a ride from you after all." Zack smiled at her. "I shall see you later Melinda." Mel sighed as the vehicle drove away with her best friend, before realizing that she was standing outside, in her lab coat, holding a Petri dish. She blinked and walked back inside to tell Dr. Hodgins and Angela what was going on.

* * *

><p>Sooner then later she was examining particulates off of a mostly fresh dead body, sad that someone had been murdered, but nevertheless happy that they were all working together again. It had felt weird to work without Dr. Brennan.<p>

Dr. Hodgins told everyone else about the microbes they had discovered as the five of them walked up onto the platform.

"Don't forget the black carp and coy." She added in a whisper that carried.

"I was getting to that." Her boss said impatiently. "They fed on the body."

"Can I, as the only normal person in this room, say…eww?" Angela scrunched up her nose as they looked down at the body. Mel couldn't blame her, some things were just impossible to get used to.

Hodgins continued on about the different particulates before Brennan asked him to cut to the chase.

"The body was in the pond one winter and two summers." He simplified.

"Spring before last." Brennan reiterated.

"You really think I'm Lesty?" Hodgins asked all of a sudden with a playful smile. Mel tilted her head to the side. She didn't really mind if she was Jane, the silently helpful assistant, but was a bit annoyed about one particular passage in the third chapter… Brennan just gave Hodgins a confused glance before turning to Angela.

"The book." Angela said by way of explanation.

"No, No, No. You're not in the book." Brennan dismissed him firmly.

"Sure he is! We all are…" Zack exclaimed from the other side of the table.

"No, none of you are in the book. Those are fictitious characters based on…." Brennan started. Mel had to stop herself from laughing at Hodgins' look of disappointment.

"I found some small bone fragments in the silt." He interrupted, gesturing towards the computer screen.

"We're out of the book now, we're back in real life…" Angela said, trying to keep her friend up to date.

"I guess Rana Temporaria." Hodgins said.

"Frog bones." Mel piped up, shuffling her feet uncomfortably under Brennan's thoughtful gaze.

"Also some tiny gold links, those from a fine chain…" Hodgins shifted the attention away from his shy assistant.

"Point of clarification, I'm not a virgin. Nowhere near in fact." Zack told Brennan, a gleam of uncharacteristic swagger in his eyes. Mel was reminded of her own point of clarification, and spoke before she thought of the embarrassment.

"And I'm _not_ sexually attracted to Zack, we're just friends." There was an awkward second of silence during which Hodgins smirked at the two of them, and Zack opened his mouth to comment. Angela cut him off before he could even begin.

"Who you captured perfectly, is Booth. Buttoned down, but buckets of sexual confidence which, uhhh, I for one would love to tap." She was speaking in what Mel liked to refer to as 'Angela's sexually starved again' tone.

"It's not right to discuss tapping asses in front of a soaker." Zack said in his lecturing voice, and Mel rolled her eyes. Like he was one to talk.

"I can't bounce back and forth between my book and real life. Since we're stuck with real life let's just forget the book." Brennan said grumpily. Mel obliged, holding her clipboard up to Hodgins and pointing something out.

"We haven't analyzed whatever it was the victim was holding in her hand but it looks like cellulose." He said, turning to the screen again.

"Paper?" Angela wondered.

"Hmm…" Mel turned to Hodgins to be sure.

"Possibly." He agreed.

"I found microscopic grit embedded in the skull fragments, I need you both to identify those too." Dr. B told the bug and slime duo. Mel gave the leader a wordless thumbs up. Brennan turned to Zack. "Remove the remaining tissue, I'll debreed the skull fragments myself, reassemble it so Angela can put a face on our victim." She looked at Angela.

"Good." Angela nodded enthusiastically. "I prefer holographs, they don't stink." She walked away, and Brennan went to follow, stopping close to Zack first.

"Zack, I don't like those terms for human remains. Soaker…crispy critter."

"Burn." Mel mouthed to Hodgins, who grinned.

"Sorry Dr. Brennan." Zack said clearly.

Mel followed her boss off the platform, pulling on the gloves she kept in her pocket at all times. "Looks like it's going to be a long night." She mumbled.

* * *

><p>She was right. The team spent the majority of the night working thoroughly with the remains, Dr. Brennan in particular, who assigned herself the job of reconstructing the entire skull. As Zack explained to her when she stopped by to see if he had any more particulates for her after the flesh removal, it was a rather delicate process that required a lot of skill and concentration. She made sure not to distract Dr. B while going about her own work. The particles turned out to be steel, concrete and diatomaceous earth. Mel couldn't make anything of that combination, and hoped Brennan had some idea how the three fit together. Soon enough it was well into the morning, she yawned, walking straight into Zack, and almost knocking over the cup of coffee he was carrying.<p>

"Careful." He warned her.

"Is that for me?" She asked him, only half jokingly. He shook his head.

"Dr. Brennan is finished with the reconstruction. She'll appreciate some caffeine."

"That's sweet." She glanced past him at Dr. B dozing off on the platform. She had only slipped into sleep when her job was done, staying up the entire night to get it finished.

"I didn't add sugar into the coffee." Zack frowned, not understanding. "Dr. Brennan prefers it without."

"I meant your actions are thoughtful. You should really win some sort of conscientious assistant award." She said patting him on the arm fondly. He may not get basic euphemisms, but the boy certainly worked hard at his job.

"Thank you." Zack answered seriously, comprehending that praise more easily. She beamed at him and then pulled off her gloves with a yawn.

"Right then…I'll be heading home for a bit, hopefully I'll get a couple hours of sleep before getting called back. See you soon Zackie."

"Bye Melinda."

* * *

><p>"<em>Dr.<em> Hart?" A new security guard was holding her up at the entrance. "Seriously—you're just a kid." Mel groaned. She understood she looked a bit young for her age, which was also a bit young for most people in her profession, but that didn't mean her credentials weren't genuine.

"Hey! Is there some kind of problem here?" Mel frowned, why did that voice sound familiar? She turned around to see a certain FBI agent standing behind her. "What's the hold up?" He asked aggravated.

"Who are you?" The guard asked, looking Booth over and deciding he didn't look much like a scientist either.

"Special Agent Seely Booth." Booth growled, flashing his badge. "And I'm not standing out here all day." Mel remembered from the last time they worked with this man—he was brave, and all for justice, but not very patient.

"Sorry Agent Booth." The guard muttered, confused as to why an FBI agent was at the Jeffersonian. "But I think this girl is rather suspicious. She claims to work here but—"

"Don't you work with Dr. Brennan and her robot assistant?" Booth asked Mel, cutting the dumb security man off. Mel nodded silently.

"And this guy won't let you in?" She nodded again. "She works here you idiot, so let us in!" Booth ordered. The guard frowned,

"But—" Mel reached forward past the bumbling fool and swiped her card, it made a satisfying beeping noise.

"See?" She interjected quietly.

"Oh." The guard, feeling stupid let them in.

"So you could've just swiped your card the whole time?" Booth asked her.

"Yes."

"You've got to be more of a presence." He frowned at her. "Aren't you supposed to be some genius kid?"

"That's Zack." She said with a bit of laughter in her voice.

"But how old are you?" Booth continued. "Like twenty?"

"Twenty two." It was a closer guess than most.

"And you're working here? That's got to mean you're pretty smart. So you should be more confident about it like the rest of your big-brained squint squad is." She smiled at him, knowing he was thinking about Brennan.

"Thank you Agent Booth, you're a very kind man." Booth grinned.

"Yeah—wait, why do you sound like you've changed your mind about something?" She scratched her head sheepishly.

"Well Dr. Brennan and Zack don't like you very much…I had yet to form my own opinion until now."

"Bones." Booth mumbled, rolling his eyes grumpily. Mel discerned some hurt hiding behind the cocky tone.

"Dr. B will see how nice you are too." She assured him. He looked surprised.

They walked into Angela's office exchanging a friendly smile. Mel plopped herself down on the couch next to Zack, who blinked sleepily in recognition at her. Angela was glanced back and forth between Mel and Booth, wondering why the two had arrived together. Hodgins, who would have been both suspicious and annoyed about their entrance didn't seem to notice. He was too busy staring at Angela in a wistful way. This made Mel frown, a surge of some unwanted emotion rising in her chest. Booth, feeling uncomfortable under Angela's inquisitive gaze coughed loudly, commenting on her painting to distract her. Dr. Brennan walked in exactly in that moment.

"Good morning." Brennan said shortly. This prompted the rest of them to gather in the center of the room. "Does Booth know how this works?" She asked Angela. Angela proudly jumped into an explanation.

"This computer program, which I designed, patent pending, accepts a full array of digital input, processes it, and then projects it as a three dimensional holographic image." A small grin slipped onto Hodgins face as he listened to Angela speak. Mel grudgingly felt a rush of respect for their resident artist and technology extraordinaire.

"Ok." Booth said, trying to look as if he knew what she was talking about.

"You got that?" Brennan asked him facetiously.

"Yeah, the patent pending part." Booth answered in much of the same tone. Mel frowned, wishing they would just get along already.

"Brennan reassembled the skull and applied tissue markers." Angela continued.

"Her skull was badly damaged, but racial indicators, cheekbone dimensions, nasal arch, occipital measurements suggest African American." Brennan looked between the skull in the computer with interest. Mel started at the computer generator expectantly.

"And…. We have our victim." Angela announced. Mel wasn't disappointed, the golden, glowing hologram was definitely amazing. Booth thought so as well.

"Whoa…" He stretched out his hand and wiggled his fingers through the image, "Have to admit, that's pretty cool." Brennan pulled his hand back.

"Ange, rerun the program substituting Caucasian values." She added thoughtfully. Angela paused for a second, before hitting some keys. The hologram altered slightly, and Brennan became even more contemplative.

"Does she look familiar to anyone?" She asked. Mel shook her head, wondering why she should be able to recognize the woman. Booth did the same, though Mel thought she could see the gears in his head begin to whir.

"No…" He answered slowly.

"Split the difference, mixed race." Brennan instructed Angela.

"Lenny Kravitz or Vanessa Williams?" Angela asked, looking for a reference point.

"I don't know what that means." Brennan told her. Angela shrugged at her friend's lack of pop culture knowledge and made the adjustments. This time something was definitely starting to click for Booth.

"Angela, reduce tissue depth over the cheekbones to the jaw line." Brennan added one last change. "Does anyone recognize her?" Booth stared at the spinning skull, and then back at the hologram, eyes widening. Hodgins shook his head, still having no clue. Mel furrowed her brow, trying to think.

"Not me." Zack said aloud, speaking for the three of them. Angela squinted pensively however.

"Wait, is that who I think it is?" She sounded surprised.

"The girl who had the affair with the Senator?" Zack asked slowly, the familiarity dawning on him. Mel frowned, what was that woman's name again? Booth seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Her name is Cleo Louise Eller. Only daughter to Ted and Sharon Eller. Last seen approximately 9pm, April 6, 2003 leaving the Cardio Deluxe Gym on K Street, she didn't even make it to her car." He gazed up at the image warily. Zack's mouth parted as he took in the information. Brennan was taken back at his knowledge on the victim.

"Pretty good memory." She told him reluctantly.

"Yeah well, it's my job to find her."

"Well, in that case, congratulations on your success." Hodgins said to Booth, somewhat abrasively in Mel's opinion. Zack wasn't the only one who needed some social pointers.

"This isn't exactly the way I wanted it to end." Booth sounded defeated. Dr. Brennan watched him much like she watched her bones—highly analytical, but with a hint of empathy underneath it all.

**Okay, that's it for now…the episode will continue next chapter. I'd love to get some feedback on this as well…**


	2. The Girl in the Water pt2

**Okay, back again. How are you liking Melinda so far?…if she's too much of a Mary Sue, I'd like to know.**

**Right so, I don't own Bones…Fox Network does.**

After that bit of depressing news, Brennan decided it was time for a lunch break. When Dr. B gave out a break, you took it, so the whole group headed outside and sat on the steps to eat. It was a nice day, despite the general mood. Hodgins took a sandwich wrap out of a paper bag, and Zack stirred his microwavable macaroni and cheese. Mel's stomach growled as she berated herself for forgetting her lunch. Hodgins offered her a bite of his wrap, more interested in what Booth was saying than eating.

"Cleo Eller is not just some missing girl." Booth tried to explain.

"Yeah, she's a senate intern who was boinking Senator Allen Bethlehem." Hodgins countered snidely. Mel munched on the piece of wrap and wondered if the term 'boinking' was appropriate in this situation. Booth became defensive, gesturing sharply with a folder of pictures.

"I was secondary in the investigation to the disappearance of that girl and we couldn't confirm that. How did you recognize her before she even had her own face?" Booth questioned Brennan. Mel peeked over at them, once again marveling at the skill of her teammates.

"I recognized the underlying architecture of her features, the rest is just window dressing." Brennan was matter o'fact about the whole thing. Zack looked up at her, scrutinizing the interaction.

"I'm not an expert but, shouldn't he be happier?" He asked.

"Oh no, believe me, I'm happy." Booth said in a weird tone.

"You seem happy to me." Angela popped up behind him cheerfully. Booth ignored her comment, looking at the group seriously.

"I need this kept quiet." He ordered.

"Ha! Cover up!" Hodgins pointed out excitedly. Booth disagreed.

"Paranoid conspiracy theory." He started down the stairs. Brennan followed.

"Is it paranoia that Monica Lewinsky was a KGB trained sex agent mole?" Hodgins called after them.

"Hopefully boss, the KGB is different from the FBI." Mel tried to calm her conspiracy theory obsessed friend.

"That's just what they want you to think!" Hodgins responded, taking back the remainder of his lunch. Zack watched them interestedly, while Angela's eyes followed Booth and Brennan.

"I wonder what's going to happen with those two." She thought aloud.

"Yeah…" Mel agreed, while Hodgins and Zack shrugged, not really caring. Zack finished his macaroni and stood up.

"Time to get back to work." He told them, heading up the stairs.

"Already?" Angela sighed. Hodgins finished off his wrap.

"You still hungry?" He asked his assistant. Mel shook her head.

"No. Thanks for sharing with me—I can pay you back if you like."

"Don't worry about it," He rolled his eyes at her politeness and Angela smiled at them. "Let's just get back to work. There are some pupas for us to test."

"Okay!" Mel stood up so exuberantly that she almost tripped over her own feet. Hodgins laughed at her as they went after Zack. Angela shook her head.

"I guess I'll go back inside too."

* * *

><p>Brennan seemed pleased to see them all hard at work when she returned. Hodgins strode into the room where she and Zack were examining the skeleton once more, Mel following close behind him, holding a clipboard.<p>

"Nothing I've seen before." Brennan was saying. Uh-oh. If Dr. B was unfamiliar with the markings this might prove to be a difficult case. Mel was becoming so worried she forgot to state their findings.

"In a nutshell: anxious, depressed and nauseous." Hodgins said for her. Being so absorbed with the bones, Brennan didn't even spare him a glance.

"Take a sick day." She advised, misinterpreting his words. Mel held back a giggle as Hodgins continued.

"Not me. Cleo Eller. Pupal casings show that she was on Lorazepam, Chloradiazepoxide, and Meclizine Hydrochloride." He clarified, motioning for Mel to hand over the clipboard, she did so and Brennan looked over the data carefully.

"Nausea. Show me those bone fragments." She asked. Zack magnified the smallest bones of the bunch. "These aren't frog bones, Cleo Eller was pregnant."

"Fetal remains…." Zack concluded under his breath. Mel felt her stomach clench. She had liked them better when they were frog bones.

"Malleus, Incus, Stapes, these are fetal ear bones." Brennan continued more loudly.

"The girl was pregnant." Hodgins repeated as Mel bit her lip.

"Not very far along." Brennan added, glancing at Mel, no doubt trying to rationalize the new-found information.

"Do you want to try to get a DNA reading see if we can prove paternity?" Zack asked, wanting to know more. Brennan looked up at him.

"You can try, lets hope there's enough genetic material to test." She approved. Hodgins moved to the other side of the table, trying to catch her eye.

"This Senator, ahhh he is smart." He exclaimed. Mel frowned, not liking where this was going. "He gets an intern pregnant and then murders her when it threatens his career and he has the connections to get away with it."

"I hate it when you make paranoia plausible, it's like sliding off a cliff." There was a slight laugh in Brennan's voice, but she didn't sound as if she thought it was very funny.

"Special Unit?" Hodgins helped her move some bones onto the examination table before taking back the clipboard. "No way your FBI pal heads it up unless the dark powers in charge are convinced he knows where his political bread is buttered. Either way, this is where this investigation ends." He walked out of the room, Mel following, but not before giving Dr. B an apologetic look for her boss's pessimistic behavior.

"They could do it you know." She told him quietly.

"What?" Hodgins asked, confused.

"Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, they can solve this, if anyone can." Hodgins looked at her.

"Brennan, maybe…but Booth, what's some FBI going to do about this case?"

"You'll see."

"I'd say let's bet on it, but you tend to win those."

* * *

><p>Later they all gathered back in Angela's computer room to talk through possible scenarios.<p>

"This is a rough composite, but, you get the idea." Angela told them as the holograph formed.

"Skull trauma was not the cause of death, Cleo was stabbed first. She was stabbed 5 to 8 times with a military issued K-Bar knife." Brennan frowned slightly.

"And I just completed this rendering. The defensive wounds to the bones of her hands suggest that it wasn't until the third or the fourth penetration that…." Angela clicked away as the scenario began to play out. Brennan quickly interjected when it got to a point she wanted to show them.

"That's likely the fatal stab right there."

"..that Cleo stopped fighting back." Angela continued.

"I believe that the distinctive damage to her distal phalanges, the tips of her finger bones, was caused by the murderer using a knife to remove her finger pads. Cranial fragmentation suggests a 20lb hammer striking four to five times while the victims head rested on a cement floor containing traces of diatomaceous earth, that's the best explanation for the particulates found in her skull." Booth looked away for a moment, overwhelmed, while Hodgins ran a hand over his face. "This was not a crime of passion." Brennan explained as the holographs played along. Mel thought that explanation made some sense however…

"Cleo never saw the first stab coming, it didn't arise out of an argument. Why smash Cleo's face, why whittle away her finger tips, remove her clothing and her jewelry?" Angela was upset. Hodgins nodded.

"Sink her body." Zack added, bringing up the suspicious location where the body had been dumped…not that there was any innocent place for a body to be dumped.

"The murderer put more effort into hiding the victim's identity than he did into the murder itself." Brennan observed.

"In case Cleo was identified, the murderer planted evidence." Hodgins took the theory further. "The little book that Brennan got from the stalker matches the cellulose Mel found in Cleo's hand." He continued.

"Military cemetery, military knife implicate her own father. More misdirection." Angela put in.

"Sound like any conniving, son-of-bitch senators you know?" Hodgins and Zack stared heavily at Booth, while Mel gave him a softer pleading look.

"You expect me, to declare war on a United States Senator based on your little holographic crystal ball." The FBI agent argued.

"It's not magic." Brennan disliked the comparison. "It's a logical recreation of events based on evidence."

"No more valid than my gut." Booth replied. Mel felt as if the intuitive man was being hypocritical.

"A good hypothesis withstands testing—that's what makes it a good hypothesis." Zack backed up his mentor.

"It's not a hypothesis, you have a dead girl and a United States Senator." He pointed at them while making the distinction. "This is exactly why squints belong in the lab, you guys don't know anything about the real world." He looked directly at Brennan when he said the last part. Mel frowned, unknowingly he had struck a hurtful chord. All of them had difficult pasts, but Dr. Brennan…

"Come on, we're done here." Brennan said bitterly. Zack and Hodgins made to leave as well, Hodgins giving Mel a questioning look when she didn't follow.

'Give me a minute.' She communicated silently. He nodded at her, giving Booth one last glower before leaving. Mel watched Booth toss two dice in the air, wondering why he did that.

"Wow. Touchy…" He said, more to himself then the two who had stayed. Angela answered anyway.

"You must know about her family. Both parents vanish when she's fifteen? Probably counts as the real world." She walked away from Booth moodily. He followed, Mel standing still, watching them.

"Yeah. I know the story, read the file, cops never found out anything." He said. Angela turned abruptly, flashing him a false smile. She wanted him to understand why he'd hurt her best friend so deeply.

"Yeah. Brennan figures that if maybe somebody like her had been there…" She trailed off. Booth noticed the irony of the situation.

"For someone who hate psychology, she sure has a lot of it." He walked out of the room, Mel following.

"Are you going to go find her?" She wanted to know. He looked at her thoughtfully, wondering how she could be a squint and still read him so well.

"Where did she go?" He asked. Mel sighed and shook her head exasperatedly.

"For someone who likes and respects Dr. B so much, you sure don't show it…" The intense look in his eyes made her step back slightly, but she continued nevertheless, "if you did maybe things would go more easily between the two of you." She walked away from him before he could question her reasoning.

"Wait!" Booth called after her. "You didn't tell me where she was."

"Where do you go when you need to focus?" She gave him one last hint. Now all she had to do was let Hodgins know she was alright before...

* * *

><p>Shortly after this she was sitting in the bone examination room, watching Zack look over the bones for the umpteenth time. Both of her boys were upset by what Booth had said, but Mel figured Zack needed her more at the moment.<p>

"Calm down Zack…I'm sure Brennan will be fine." She told him softly. Zack frowned at her.

"I am perfectly calm." He answered. Mel wondered if he was that good at lying, or just completely oblivious to his own emotions. The second was more likely. Suddenly Booth burst in looking flustered. Mel rose her eyebrows, guessing along the lines of what had happened.

"You—" Zack began coldly.

"Quiet kid!" Booth barked. He turned to Mel and grudgingly returned her look of understanding. "I need to go think…but I should be done real soon, so tell her to come talk to me, okay?"

"Yes sir!" She saluted him respectfully. He left just as quickly.

"What was that all about?" Zack wanted to know.

"Well…" Mel was saved the need to explain a complicated situation to her socially disinclined friend when Brennan popped into the room just as speedily as Booth had. She was ruffled as well.

"Dr. Brennan—" Zack exclaimed, happy to see her determined look, though still a little confused.

"That man…" Brennan grumbled, slamming a folder of data against the table with full force. "I'll show him!"

There was a moment of silence as papers fluttered to the ground. Mel coughed and bent over to retrieve them, silently hoping that Dr. B would not find out that Mel had practically been the one to send Booth after Brennan.

"If you mean Agent Booth," Zack started slowly, with dislike.

"She does." Mel nodded knowingly.

"Then he said he wanted to speak to you." Zack loyally relayed the message. Brennan stopped, tearing her eyes away from the bones and gazing at Zack interestedly.

"He did?" Her voice was a mixture of emotions that Mel could not read. Zack exchanged a concerned glance with Mel.

"Dr. Brennan we could go over the—" Zack began.

"Excuse me Zack, Mel..." Dr. Brennan rushed out of the room, taking off her lab coat as she went.

"Do you think they'll work things out?" Mel asked Zack, he shrugged. She sighed. "I wish there was something I could do..."

"After I finish cataloging these injuries, let's go find Hodgins." Zack said, as he often did when all else failed.

* * *

><p>Eventually Mel and Zack found Hodgins who suggested they look for Angela. Angela was in the cafeteria, eyes glued to the television news which was reporting that the FBI was searching a certain Senators house for evidence relating to the murder of Cleo Eller. Hodgins fist pumped shouting "Yes!" Mel walked Zack through a high five. Then they headed back to the lab, running into Brennan on the way, who quickly explained the new developments to them. The five of them decided to continue their conversation in the lounge above the general lab area. Hodgins carried his 'secret' stash with them, Mel's arms were full of beakers. They settled onto the couches, Hodgins pouring them each a liberal amount of alcohol.<p>

"They won't even arrest him?" Zack asked, angry in his own awkward way. Mel, who was sitting at his side, patted his knee empathetically.

"Don't worry, if that's the hammer used on Cleo Eller, he'll get arrested. A toast to getting this bastard." Hodgins was vindictive. The five clanked beakers and took long sips. Brennan made a face at the strength of the alcohol. Mel gazed at the beaker, contemplating the breach of safety edict, but enjoying the drink anyway.

"The hammer's not enough." Brennan coughed, putting the beaker down. "He's gonna get away with it. And maybe Booth is right, maybe outside the lab I'm useless." She shook her head, nibbling on the end of a stirrer absentmindedly. Mel wished there was something she could say, she glanced at Hodgins. He held up the little red stalker's book.

"Let's take guidance from the lives of the Saints." He said mockingly, perhaps a little drunk already. Angela took it from him and read,

"Albertus Magnus, Patron Saint of Scientists." Zack made a face, both at the olive skewed on the end of his stirrer that he couldn't reach, and the information.

"I thought Magnus was the Patron Saint of fish mongers?" He didn't like his facts to contradict. Brennan had a deeply contemplative look on her face. Mel watched her out of one eye, seeing Hodgins shake his head on her other side.

"Two separate entities. Albertus Magnus was a 13th century philosopher, the fish monger saint was a …" He began informatively.

"Fish!" Brennan shouted out all of a sudden. Mel would have thought that was hilarious had the anthropologist not looked so serious. Everyone looked at the anthropologist as if she'd gone crazy. "You said that diatomaceous earth could be used as a filtering agent." Hodgins nodded slowly, still not seeing what she was getting at.

"Yeah, for swimming pools, water filters…"

"For fish tanks." Mel added quietly.

"Exactly. Tropical fish. Oliver Laurier said that Ken Thompson kept fish." Brennan explained more specifically. She sprang up and began putting on her coat.

"What's your hurry?" Angela sounded worried again.

"Thompson read the warrant, he knows we're looking for diatomaceous earth." Brennan was bubbling with adrenaline. She turned to Mel for some reason. "Get in touch with Booth, tell him where I'm going, okay?" Mel nodded as Brennan rushed down the stairs and away.

"She didn't actually say where she was going, did she?" Angela asked a thoughtful looking Hodgins. Zack frowned deeply.

"I don't know how to contact Agent Booth. Dr. Brennan is usually the one who calls him—does anybody have his phone number?" Everyone shook their heads.

"But Angela, you can find the number on your computer." Mel thought quickly.

"Let's go then…" They ran, Angela's intense hacking skills at work, until she found the number, which Hodgins dialed as fast as lightning. Mel put the phone up next to her ear.

"Agent Booth? This is Dr. Hart—Dr. Brennan is going after Thompson, she needs help _now_."

"Thompson…Right I got it!" Booth sounded nervous, but ready.

"He's leaving now." Mel reported back to them, hanging up and handing the phone back to Hodgins. "They'll be fine...right?"

"They'd better be." Hodgins muttered, Angela and Zack nodded approvingly.

The four of them waited restlessly in the lab until Booth called Mel back, telling her Brennan was fine physically, though maybe not legally as she happened to have shot Thompson in the leg. Angela thought that sounded very much like Dr. Brennan. Zack sank into Angela's couch in respite. Hodgins poured more alcohol for everyone, saying that Booth might not be so bad if he helped a person like Dr. Brennan defeat corruption. Mel was relieved, and drank heartily until Angela pointed out they should go to Cleo's funeral tomorrow. Now that the mystery was solved, they had to deal with the death. The mood became more somber, Hodgins changing the toast to one in the dead woman's honor.

* * *

><p>Angela took Mel with her to pick up flowers the next morning before greeting the rest of the black-clad group in the cemetery. They stood together in a line, Mel, Zack, Dr. Goodman the head of their department, Booth, Hodgins, Angela and Brennan. Brennan watched Ms. Eller cry onto her husband's shoulder. Then Mel tugged on Zack's sleeve…Brennan was walking away from the group. He followed his mentor with his eyes, as she walked towards the coffin, taking a red rose and placing it there, before stopping to look at the picture of the dead woman. The still image was smiling and beautiful. It was too much, Brennan walked further away, prompting Angela to turn to Booth.<p>

"Is the FBI going to lay charges against Brennan?" She asked him.

"She only shot him in the leg. Once." Hodgins pointed out, fully ready to launch into a discussion about the injustice of the government, despite the fact they were at a funeral.

"She didn't give him a warning. She just shot him, with alcohol on her breath." Booth relayed the accusation worthy parts of the circumstance.

"It was her first shooting, you can't expect it to be perfect right out of the gate." Dr. Goodman countered. Mel felt a rush of affection for the older, fatherly man.

"How much warning did you give people before you sniped them?" Zack asked, being in a snarky mood. Booth gave him a dark look, shaking his head in amusement when Mel stepped on her fellow assistant's foot accidentally on purpose. Zack winced, Mel nodded at Booth before he left to catch up with Brennan. Goodman looked between the three of them quizzically.

"What character does Agent Booth exude?" He wanted to know.

"Charisma." Angela answered first, her tone implying that some of this charisma was sexual.

"He's a cocky-bastard…but not all that bad for a government agent." Was Hodgins' opinion.

"Brave." Zack decided, saying this as if it was partially insulting, and partially praise.

"And underneath it all he's one of us." Mel stated quietly. Everyone looked at her.

"What do you mean sweetie?" Angela asked, a smile playing across her lips, as she thought she knew what the younger woman meant.

"Flawed, and struggling to do some good in this world." She concluded with more certainty.

**TTFN…tell me if you want to see anymore of this,**

**Thanks,**

**AoiKuroNekoSan**

**btw, this is now edited :)  
><strong>


	3. The Man in the SUV pt1

**Okay, so here's episode 2 up. Inserting a character is fun. Also, I'd really like to thank whoever thought to make Bones transcripts and post them online. You are awesome!**

**Fox Network owns **_**Bones**_**. Hart Hanson created it.**

"Dr. Hart! Zack! Angela and I are going to meet Booth at a crime scene—a bomb exploded, you two follow in the van and bring the appropriate equipment." Dr. Brennan spoke quickly as she rushed out the door. Angela followed nervously behind her. Mel noted that neither of them appeared to have changed out of their casual clothes. The call must have been short notice.

"Quickly Melinda, what are you waiting for?" Zack was already gathering empty evidence bags. Mel nodded at him.

"What can I do?"

"Find some vegetable oil, and then meet me out front."

"Vegetable oil?" She frowned, pulling her gloves on, and hanging her lab coat over the back of a chair. Zack swiveled to face her.

"Yes. Any bodies surrounding a bomb explosion will be severely cooked, vegetable oil will make removal easier."

"Ah." She found some and then hopped in the van, pulling her fieldwork suit over her clothes. Zack was already dressed, and twitching in excitement, triple checking to make sure he had the correct items in his hands. Mel shook her head bemusedly, her friend really needed to get out more.

When they arrived Zack practically ran out of the van, almost colliding with Dr. Brennan as he handed her the bottle of oil. Then he began asking questions and dashing about the crime scene taking pictures. Mel took a small evidence bag and knelt down to scoop up some burnt residue, catching sight of Angela standing to the side, holding her stomach and looking nauseated. Mel frowned, knowing that Angela was a sensitive soul. Overly emotive so to speak. Not a good thing to be at the site of an explosion. Mel was pondering going to comfort her, when Angela suddenly moved closer to Dr. Brennan.

Dr. Brennan handed Angela a large red evidence bag, so that she could place a severed femur bone, shoe still attached, inside.

Angela looked as if she was about to cry, or throw up. She passed the bag along to Booth.

"You know…uh…" She glanced at Brennan pleadingly. "I don't think I can…Sorry." She walked away, leaving the crime scene. Booth watched her sympathetically. Brennan picked up the leg and hovered it in front of the bag opening.

"Well, if you can't either…" She said stiffly.

"No, I'm cool." She placed it in. Booth stood straighter, wanting to seem tough. Brennan ignored him, turning and walking in the opposite direction, no doubt in search of more remains.

"Zack, I need two more evidence bags." She called over her shoulder coolly. Booth and Mel exchanged a look.

"So…this man was a personal guest at the White House." Mel commented conversationally. Booth half shrugged, half nodded.

"If it is Hamid Masruk, then yeah—why?"

"Dr. Hodgins will have a field day." She told him, he snorted.

"Conspiracy nut." He muttered under his breath as he went after Brennan.

* * *

><p>Back at the lab Dr. Brennan and Zack stood over the examination table, while Dr. Hodgins stayed back to put his gloves on. Mel sat on a chair at a desk nearby, poking at her bag of ash in interest.<p>

"Facial epidermis and the fingertips are completely decimated. We're not going to be able to ID anything from the flesh. It's basically carbon." Brennan announced.

"We are missing the lower left leg and the lumbar spine." Zack continued inventory.

"Here's the C2 and the right ischium." Brennan picked up a small, charred lump of bone.

"Smokey here had access to the President." Zack squinted in a way that caused Booth to call them as such, while Hodgins struggled to adjust his glove. "Why would he attack a café?"

"Smokey?" Brennan questioned, somewhat disapprovingly. Mel popped up, fixing her boss's glove and handing him a clipboard.

"It's how I deal with the stress." Zack justified himself.

"Targeting everyday places causes panic. People stay home. The economy is crippled. It's Terrorism 101, man." Hodgins explained in a lofty, you-should-know-this tone.

"Take samples from the clothes. See whatever you can find. Traces of cologne, laundry detergent, anything that we can link to Masruk's home." Brennan instructed Mel, ignoring Hodgins' theories.

"Did you get any particulates that looked like they could identify the bomb?" He asked his assistant. Mel shook her head.

"I only have basic organic matter at the moment."

"I'll collect some more then." Hodgins decided, Brennan and him switching sides so he could get better access to the remains.

"Isn't that the FBI's job?" Zack commented, without looking up. Hodgins humphed.

"What, you trust the FBI? You realize those guys are going to suppress whatever they need to cover their asses." Mel, Zack and Brennan continued to examine the body attentively.

"I found a portion of the clavicle." Zack told Brennan, showing it to her.

"Are you even listening?"

"No." Zack answered in an uncaring tone. Mel absentmindedly thought that her boss really liked to be the center of attention.

"They have a separate division, you know, that way their hands are always clean." Hodgins raised his voice, Mel and Zack glanced up, Brennan noticed their focus was being diverted. "In 1970…"

"Jack!" She used his first name chastising. "We're trying to work." She was alternatively glaring at him, and studying the mangled bones. Hodgins seemed put out.

"Someone seems really defensive about the FBI lately. You realize Booth is just another government stooge." Maybe he was a little jealous.

"I like Booth." Mel said quietly, still concentrating on the search for particulates.

"This has nothing to do with him." Brennan said looking behind Hodgins pointedly. Mel and Zack followed her gaze just in time to see Booth come right up behind the grumpy entomologist, announcing himself with a cough. They stood face to face.

"You know I don't enjoy having most squints on my team anymore than you like me on yours but you know, we're supposed to be working together. Okay?"

"Sure. So what do we do, group hug?" Hodgins, opened his arms, joking around to show Booth he wasn't intimidated. Booth pushed him away.

"Agent Gibson here will be over seeing things for Homeland Security." He shifted the conversation.

"I'll try not to be in the way." Gibson looked over what they were doing curiously. Brennan bristled.

"No, ugh …we don't need to be overseen." She moved closer to Booth, ready to argue her case. Mel nudged Zack to watch them.

"That's really not your call Bones." He dismissed her annoyance. "Okay how soon can we get the DNA match?"

"That'll take days. I can get a match much sooner than that. I have all we need." Brennan tried to explain, still aggravated.

"You're going to be able to ID him from that?" Gibson asked incredulously. Zack and Hodgins looked at him as if he was stupid. Mel smiled slightly—just wait until he saw them in action.

"Asking stuff like that is in the way." Zack felt the need to inform the agent. Brennan was on the move.

"Remove any flesh and particulates you can and then macerate him." She stopped to get up in Gibson's face before she left. "If that's alright with you?" She quipped. Gibson, looking somewhat defeated, went to lean on the table and watch them more closely. Mel frowned.

"Don't touch the table." Hodgins jabbed a finger at him. "Don't touch the table." He repeated. Zack glanced at Mel.

"Dr. Brennan wants the bones cleaned—you should go get _them_." Mel nodded.

"You okay boss?" She wanted to know if he still needed her help.

"Oh, I'm fine, you just go get our little buddies."

"What are you talking about?" Gibson sounded worried as Mel trotted away. Hodgins grinned his mad scientist grin.

"Just our favorite flesh-eating friends." She heard him say.

Mel had barely gathered the right species and prepared the glove box before Zack, Hodgins and Gibson came in with the body. The carefully lowered it into the box. Mel looked quizzically at Gibson, wondering what he was doing here. Gibson ignored her went to examine a shelf to the right.

"Agent Booth did say he had to watch us." Zack said in an attempt at innocence.

"We're just trying to give him a good show." Hodgins chuckled at her anxious expression. "Relax baby, just let me know if he freaks out." Mel opened her mouth to answer, flushing slightly at his habit of calling the women close to him 'baby' when Dr. Brennan and Booth marched in.

"All the trace evidence has been stripped. Hodgins and Melinda scavenged as much as they could." Zack reported, glancing over Mel's shoulder at the clipboard.

"Okay, let's get started." Brennan was not one for wasting time. Mel took two jars down from a shelf and attempted to put them on top of the glove box. Realizing she was too short, she gave Zack a look, and he finished for her, unscrewing the caps, and pouring the beetles through the top of the box. Hodgins watched eagerly, but Booth looked bewildered.

"What the hell are those?" He wanted to know.

"Dermestes Maculatus." Mel told him, a hint of pride in her voice. Booth just blinked at her. "Flesh eating beetles." She simplified.

"That's how we clean the flesh off of burn victims." Brennan continued. Booth leaned over and stared openly, while Gibson tensed up a little. He was relieved to be able to look away when his phone rang suddenly.

"Gibson." He answered it professionally. "Yes sir. Yes sir." He turned to Brennan. "The President wants to know how long the ID is going to take." Brenann smirked at Mel, not bothering to even glance at the agent. She wasn't really fond of homeland security.

"Why don't you ask them?" She gestured towards the beetles. Mel coughed to suppress a laugh.

* * *

><p>"Boss," She tapped Hodgins on the shoulder later in the day. "Don't you think there's something…weird about this analysis?" Hodgins nodded.<p>

"Something is definitely off. I can't match this chemical makeup to anything that would be used in a bomb…" He leaned over the computer screen with her. Zack looked as well.

"It could be a perchlorate. Would that be used in a bomb?" He wondered.

"Yeah, but this is a crystalline structure, aluminum based." Hodgins was becoming frustrated. It didn't help that Gibson was on the other side of them, trying to catch a glimpse of the screen. Hodgins tilted the computer further out of the agent's line of sight, just as Brennan walked up.

"Okay, I'm back. How are we doing?" She asked.

"Melinda identified his detergent brand, cologne, and shampoo. He died a well-groomed man." Zack handed her the report.

"Thanks." Brennan was distracted, trying to avoid Gibson.

"Dr. Brennan?" The agent tried. She neglected to answer.

"Are the bones done yet?" She asked Zack, pacing in circles.

"Yeah, we will check the beetles." Zack agreed, shuffling Mel out of the area. Gibson followed Dr. Brennan.

Walking back towards the body, (well, it was more like Zack was pulling Mel towards the body, he could be overenthusiastic sometimes) Mel spotted Angela. She was mopping around the hall, a torn look on her face. Mel detached herself from Zack's grip.

"Go start without me." She told her friend, "I've got to speak with Angela."

"Hmm," Zack struggled with the idea of tugging her along anyway, but decided against it and nodded. "Hurry." He added, rushing away.

"Ange?" Mel started gently. "What's on your mind?" Angela jumped slightly, not having realized the quiet girl was there.

"Mel! Nothing sweetie, I'm just…" Mel stared at Angela, knowing that it wasn't 'nothing.' Angela sighed. "Oh, alright. I'm just a bit disappointed with myself." Angela admitted. Mel nodded slowly.

"Why? Does it have something to do with the crime scene earlier?" She guessed. Angela winced, bingo.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm Brennan's best friend, I should be able to support her…but all I can think about when I see those bodies is that that person's had the joy of life stolen from them…" Mel bit her lip.

"Angela, just because you can't hold an evidence bag open at a crime scene doesn't mean you can't support your best friend…I can't help Zack calculate his physics equations over lunch, but he knows I'll help him out in any other way that I can." Despite being envious of Angela's beauty, talent, and predisposition for stealing all of Hodgins' attention—she still respected the woman quite a lot. It felt easy to be open around her. Angela gave her a weak smile.

"Thanks, I think I see what you're getting at…I should go talk to her, shouldn't I?" Mel nodded.

"Yes, and I need to catch up with Zack before he accidentally does something horrible to my beetles." Angela laughed.

"Eventually I'll get you away from your bugs, Bren away from her bones, and we can all just have some fun together." She said, overly optimistically in Mel's opinion.

"Hmmm…" Mel mumbled in a way she had learned from Zack, before slipping away. "I do have fun with my beetles." She said to herself.

"You took too long." Zack told her, when she came into the room. "The bones are already clean, so I'm removing the beetles."

"Careful with them!" Mel said worriedly, upset that she wasn't tall enough to reach in and take care of it herself. "Curse my short stature." Zack glanced at her, before reaching in and retrieving the flesh-eating bugs in a very concentrated manner.

"I don't know what you mean by 'curse', but you should know that your height to weight ratio is well proportioned. You are reasonably healthy." Mel took a moment to interpret what he was saying.

"Thank you?"

"I was just stating a fact…however your stature is also useful in your occupation, despite some drawbacks."

"What do you mean?" Mel asked, confused.

"Hodgins would not enjoy having an assistant who was taller than him." Zack smiled slightly. Mel grinned too.

"Okay, go tell Dr. B about the bones, I know you're dying to."

"…I have not increased my rate of expiration." Zack muttered, puzzled. Mel sighed and went to go find her boss as well.

**Right, so that's it for now. I've just edited this bit. I'd like to get a couple more reviews... *.*  
><strong>


	4. The Man in the SUV pt2

**Yay! I've finished another chapter/episode! I hope whoever's reading this enjoys it.**

**BTW, I promise that I don't own _Bones_. Melinda Hart however is a figment of my imagination.**

The two entomologists were just beginning to discuss the particulates they'd found, and possible matches for the elements of the bomb, when Zack ran up, beaming widely.

"I'm about to start my first cranial reconstruction!" He announced, full of pride. Hodgins shrugged.

"Yeah, okay Zack. We're busy, go away." Zack frowned.

"That's great Zackie." Mel said more gently, "But we really are preoccupied…why don't you go start and then show me your progress later?" Zack nodded slowly, disappointed that they weren't as excited about this as he was. "I'll bring you some coffee later, like you do for Dr. B." She added. Zack began smiling again at the comparison and set to work immediately. Hodgins shook his head.

"That kid gets too stoked about his work—ooh look, here's something we missed!" He exclaimed. Mel blinked at the irony before shrugging and diving into the work with equal enthusiasm.

The three scientists were quiet as they analyzed their evidence. Zack was struggling with two pieces of the skull that weren't cooperating with him. Hodgins' eye was jammed up against a microscope. Mel was going over the paper work for their findings.

"How's it coming?" Dr. Brennan asked, walking up behind Zack.

"The Ethnoid and Sphenoid fragments won't piece together." He was frustrated.

"Zack, I would like to return the remains to the widow before her demise." Brennan also appeared to be in a bad mood.

"I'm doing my best, Dr. Brennan. The integrity of the bone seems to be compromised. I don't know if it's the metal fragments from the blast…" Zack explained dejectedly.

"I examined the chemicals used in the explosives. The perchlorates I found can have a degenerative effect." Hodgins put in, defending his friend. Mel nodded.

"Not this quickly." Brennan disagreed, moving towards the microscope. "Excuse me." Hodgins got up to let her sit in his chair. "Unusually soft bone tissue. You know, this has nothing to do with the blast." She concluded, turning to her grad student. "I owe you an apology Zack." Zack raised his eyebrows. "Do you have his medicals?" He slid them across the examination table, and Brenann picked them up, leafing through the information. "Stiff joints, facial disfigurement." She took another peek at the slide. "There's a disorganized Trabecula pattern here that his doctors wouldn't have been able to see. Could have been a degenerative disease." She looked up at Hodgins whose brow was furrowed. He shook his head.

"I don't get it. How does his medical condition figure into the murder?"

"Now it's a murder. Before it was terrorism because we didn't have all the facts. You don't overlook anything when you're looking for the truth." Mel was impressed. "Check for Lupus and Pagets." She instructed them.

"Do we have enough tissue?" Mel wondered quietly.

"Yeah, we can manage it." Hodgins said, a little taken aback.

"If those come back negative, he might have been exposed to a toxin which would mean his brother was too." She hopped back up, and skipped away still talking. "He's exhibiting similar symptoms. I'll get the brother's medicals." Hodgins sighed and sat back down in front of his microscope, Mel handed him a pen.

"I graduated top of my class, Rhode Scholar, youngest member inducted into the Academy of Physical Sciences… but she still makes me feel like a cretin." He confessed. Zack waved a skull fragment proudly.

"She apologized to me." He bragged. Hodgins turned and glared. Zack smirked, looking back over the cranial reconstruction.

"Zack…" Mel sighed.

"I'm still three times more qualified than you are." Hodgins countered, referring to his doctorates. Zack didn't say anything, ego still swollen from Dr. B's apology.

"Come on boss, let's check for Lupus and Pagets." She gave him an imploring look. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After they finished the tests, Angela came up, and smugly sat herself down next to Mel.

"Our handsome Agent Booth has himself a sexy lawyer girlfriend who stops by for _sleepovers_." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at the last word.

"Sleepovers." Mel repeated, not really sure she wanted to know about this. Zack and Hodgins pretended not to be listening.

"Apparently, they live together a few days a week, but he was very clear that she has her own place." Angela continued, relaxed and lounging.

"Should you be intruding into their lives like this?" Zack couldn't resist asking.

"Oh yeah. Absolutely." She returned, as if it was obviously her duty to be butting into other people's business. Mel rolled her eyes, and Hodgins attempted to refocus Zack's attention.

"We're negative for Lupus and Paget's. When you're done, Mel can do a scraping for environmental contaminates."

"I found these." Zack handed over a Petri dish. "Shiny flakes that caught onto the torn patches of bone."

"Bottom line, I still think Brennan has a shot with Booth." Angela clearly thought her line of conversation was more important at the moment.

"But she says she's not interested." Hodgins pointed out hopefully. He wanted the FBI out of their lives, but if Booth and Brennan got together…

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." Angela countered knowingly.

"Maybe…" Mel admitted, Brennan did seem the type to deny feelings she would think irrational.

"Or maybe she protested just enough." Zack put in.

"Puh-lease. She's been sleeping alone for months." Angela informed them. Zack twitched at this. "She has enough pent up sexual energy to power a small mid-western city." Mel let out a giggle.

"This looks like gypsum." Hodgins interrupted, looking up from his microscope. Mel snapped back to attention.

"That wouldn't cause any organic damage, right?" She asked her boss. He nodded.

"It's probably used to insulate the explosives, bet the FBI doesn't know that yet." He said the last part superiorly while Angela pouted over the change of topic.

"I'm gonna go check out this _girlfriend_." Angela winked at Mel walked away. Hodgins watched her leave suspiciously.

"What do you think she meant by that?" He asked the only other girl in the room. Mel shrugged. She really didn't have much experience with that sort of thing.

A little bit later Mel was starting a tox screen while Hodgins fiddled with his and Zack's homemade bomb reconstruction.

"I'm almost done with the skull." Zack informed them eagerly.

"I'm on my way to putting one over the superficial government again." Hodgins said in much of the same tone. He tightened a screw on the contraption in front of him.

"Hmmmhmmm…" Zack wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"When Booth sends over the brothers medicals, I want them matched to Hamid's." Brennan said, from behind them. Mel jumped slightly, wishing Brennan wouldn't pop up out of nowhere like that.

"I—I've…" Mel stuttered nervously.

"Mel's started a tox screen." Hodgins finished for her. Mel handed Brennan a sheet of paper.

"Farid said his doctor suspected a genetic condition. Maybe we are overlooking something." Brennan told them, stopping slowly when she noticed the bomb model. "What is that?" She asked Hodgins. He motioned her over. She stood next to him, staring.

"We used the trace elements we recovered to try and build the bomb. It might give you another link." Zack explained from behind them.

"Isn't the FBI working on that?" Brennan wanted confirmation. Mel nodded exasperatedly.

"Yes, this is just for fun." Hodgins answered in a seemingly nonchalant tone.

"To see who's better?" Brennan understood.

"Maybe. A little. Yeah." Hodgins admitted.

"Good luck." Brennan replied. Her serious tone betrayed a hint of amusement. Zack waltzed over to her with the completed skull.

"Ta-da." He proclaimed, showing her the finished job with a wide smile.

"Nice job." Brennan was appreciative. She walked over to get a magnifying lens to get a closer look. A still happy Zack, and a curious Mel and Hodgins followed. "No wonder you had such trouble with reconstruction—look at the spread of the Trabecular pattern in the bone."

"Microscopic fissures, like cracks." Zack translated for Hodgins, who was not grateful.

"I knew that." He glared at Zack.

"I don't think so." Zack was smug from all the praise.

"Guys…" Mel warned.

"Can we focus?" Brennan snapped. Both Zack and Hodgins froze. "The spread is too rapid for any organic bones disease or genetic condition. It's definitely a toxin. Is there any surviving marrow to test?"

"Ah, I'll try and find some." Zack answered.

"Let's do it." Brennan ordered, wondering why they were waiting around. Zack and Hodgins dispersed. "Men." Brennan grumbled to Mel.

"Dr. B…Did you have an argument with Agent Booth?" Mel asked, channeling Angela.

"Women." She muttered in the same tone.

"Right then…" Mel squeaked nervously. Brennan still intimated her sometimes. "I'll go help them."

After careful examination, Hodgins wasn't optimistic about their chances with the new lead.

"The marrow's degraded. I can give you basics, but that's it." He told Brennan.

"According to these tests the liver function was impaired." Zack added, after reading a section of her notes that Mel pointed out to him.

"His body was trying to get rid of whatever was poisoning him." Brennan reasoned.

"There is trouble in paradise." Angela joined them with a singsong voice. Mel hoped she wasn't going to bring up Booth's girlfriend again, Dr. Brennan was already grumpy enough as it was…

"I beg your pardon?" Brennan put a hand on her hip. Behind her back Mel tried to signal Angela to stop talking.

"Tessa does not feel secure in that relationship. I think she's threatened by you." Angela went on anyway, nodding confidently.

"You talked to her." Brenann seemed resigned all of a sudden. Hodgins watched them go back and forth as if they were an interesting television show. Mel moved to stand next to Zack.

"She didn't say much but even though she has a phenomenal figure she was chowing down on a fat-free muffin," Angela said this as if it was highly revealing. "And she was reading a book about unsolved FBI cases. Uck, she's obviously feeling insecure."

"She's spying for you?" Hodgins asked Brennan incredulously, though still clearly amused.

"No! No!" Brennan was beginning to become embarrassed.

"Even if you have nothing in common it's difficult to sublimate intense sexual attraction," Zack said in a rush, gesturing with his pen. "And we hear it's been awhile." Mel stepped on Zack's foot to tell him he had stepped over a line. Hodgins just smirked.

"Okay, Stop!" The poor forensic anthropologist gestured her arms wildly.

"He is there for the taking, honey." Angela urged her. Just then Booth came sprinting up the platform. He swiped his ID quickly,

"Okay, I couldn't get his medical records." He fiddled with his card some more before noticing that everybody was staring at him. "What?"

"Oh nothing." Brennan turned away sharply. Angela and Hodgins exchanged a mischievous look. Zack rubbed his foot grumpily while Mel gave him an apologetic glance.

"Trying to track down the doctor?" Booth asked slowly, deciding not to dwell on whatever had been going on before he arrived.

"Don't need him. It's definitely a toxin but we can't determine what kind." Brennan was leaning over the table. Zack rolled over to her to get a better look at the skull. Angela peered over his shoulder.

"Too bad the liver is cooked, that could tell us everything." Zack concluded. Mel nodded at him.

"You know, I need subtitles walking in here." Booth had no idea what they were talking about.

"The liver is like a filter. It would contain evidence of any toxins in the system, but we don't have the liver or any of the flesh left." Brennan grumbled. Hodgins and Mel glanced at each other, remembering something suddenly.

"But we do have the beetles." Mel announced hesitantly, not liking what she was going to have to do. Booth looked at her, forehead crinkling.

"Follow us." Hodgins told them. He and Melinda lead them to the room where they had cleaned the bones. Once they got there Mel picked up a jar of her bettles and began to screw off the lid. "They ate Hamid's flesh and whatever organs remained. And we all know you are what we eat." Hodgins elaborated.

"So you can ID the poison from the beetles." Booth surmised.

"You can't kill them." Zack said stiffly, Mel frowning along beside him. "They have names." Zack had been quite excited when Mel asked him to name them for her…but seeing him now, maybe she shouldn't have let him become so close to the beetles.

"We have to, Zach." Brennan reached into the jar Mel was holding, and pulled out a handful. "Some." Zack breathed out roughly as Hodgins took a smaller jar of them.

"In Thailand, they are sautéed in peanut oil." He said teasingly, shaking the container. "Mmm…" Mel glared at her boss. Booth made a halfway disgusted, and halfway sympathetic noise, while Zack gapped in distress. The agent made to pat Zack on the shoulder but thought better of it, ruffling Mel's hair instead. Mel stared at him. Zack pouted.

"…I suppose there's always the bomb reconstruction." Zack said wearily. Mel patted him on the shoulder instead.

"I'll make sure he doesn't kill any more than necessary." She said soothingly.

"Dioxin!" Hodgins told Mel excitedly over a blender of her beetles. Mel sniffled at the sight of them. Hodgins shook his head. "I'll buy you more beetles Mel, just focus on the dioxin for now."

"Cancer, diabetes, heart attacks and…_bone degeneration_." She concluded, rubbing her eyes.

"Exactly—let's go tell the others."

They strode back to the platform, Hodgins announcing what he had found.

"Give me the saturation levels." Mel handed Brennan the report. Brennan nodded and marked something off with a pen. "Angela can use it in simulation to give us approximate date of ingestion." Hodgins rushed off, gesturing for Mel to follow him.

Later Zack joined Hodgins and Mel as they discussed the particulates. They all studied the data on the computer screen.

"The gypsum proved to be even more helpful than we initially thought." Mel explained in a whisper.

"The insulation they used is gypsum based, with plaster and lead mixed with asbestos." Hodgins continued.

"Pyrobar," Zack told them. Mel looked at him. "It's a fire proof tile developed in 1903 by the United States gypsum company. It was only used for a few years."

"So probably came from the building where the bomb was constructed in." Hodgins thought that sounded reasonable. He grinned, and patted Zack on the shoulder.

"We find the building…" Mel began.

"And we find the bomber." Zack finished in a rhythmic tone. "I get to call Dr. Brennan!" He searched for his cell phone. "Where…"

"You forgot it at home today, use the lab phone." Mel reminded him. Hodgins snorted. Zack ignored him, dialing the number he knew by heart.

"The bomb insulation was made from Pyrobar which was used by an architect named…" He began after a second. Mel clicked on the file, "William Allard. He was known for developing the Woodley Park neighborhood around 1910." He finished. Zack frowned, staying silent. "She sounded distracted—why would she be distracted?"

"I dunno, it can't be because we're dealing with a bomber, now could it?" Hodgins muttered sarcastically. Zack paused again.

"She wants to speak to you." He said disappointedly, handing the other man the phone.

"Yeah." Hodgins said, to let her know he was listening. "…Dioxin. That's how you would make it." He responded to something she said. Zack and Mel looked on nervously. "…Yeah, yeah, yeah." Hodgins continued quickly. "Ahhh, homemade device similar to the car bomb that could be…" He was looking around the table for something, Mel handed him the notebook where they had been taking notes. "Three to five hundred meters. If the victims weren't killed they'd develop cancer, blindness, lesions, diabetes…okay." He finished with finality, hanging up the phone.

"What does she want from us?" Zack stood up quickly.

"Angela…something about bus schedules…" Hodgins shook his head. "I think they're in danger. I wish there was something else I could do."

"I'll check on Angela." Mel decided, rushing off the platform before either of them could respond.

Back in another room Angela was talking on the phone, and clicking through her computer. Mel came up behind her.

"Okay, okay, uh…three movies start a six. There's a lecture at Fuller Hall on Birds. I can't imagine that will be crowded," Her expression suddenly became sad, "And a peace conference at the Hamilton Cultural Center. There will be speeches by Arab Moderates and a Congressman. That looks like the one." She hung up, catching sight of Mel who had been watching her uneasily. Angela reached over and squeezed her hand. "They'll be alright…okay sweetie?"

"They will." Mel softly tried to reassure herself.

Zack and Hodgins came in and the four of them huddled around the phone, waiting to hear what had happened. About a half an hour later Brennan called. Angela snatched up the phone, listened quietly for a minute and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Team hot anthropologist and sexy FBI agent have done it again!" She exclaimed.

"Yes." Zack nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright!" Hodgins gave Mel a high five while Angela grinned.

"I thought you didn't like the FBI." Angel teased him. Hodgins shrugged.

"Yeah, them I don't like…but Booth, _he's _okay."

Angela couldn't understand it when Brennan got back and immediately wanted to start working on identifying her WWI victims. Zack frowned.

"Dr. Brennan is a very efficient worker…though additional rest between ventures could only add to the likelihood of her success." Mel just shook her head admiringly.

"Dr. B is just a very caring person." She said to them. "I'll go check if she has an particulates she needs me to identify."

"Not you too sweetie, why don't you come clubbing with me? Let loose a little." Angela suggested.

"Or just go home and watch some Firefly." Zack offered an alternative.

"Err, no thank you, I enjoy this work." Mel tried to sound polite as possible. Angela rolled her eyes.

"Go on then." She waved her hand. Mel ran all the way to Dr. Brennan's office where she found the anthropologist bent over a skeleton, and a stack of biographical papers.

"You smell like alcohol." Mel observed curiously.

"Booth and I went out for a drink to celebrate the completion of the case." Brennan explained, without looking up.

"A small drink then…" She hadn't even been gone that long after all.

"Yes." Brennan said, not saying anything further on the subject. Mel sat down next to the older woman hesitantly.

"Would you…like some help? Because, I want to do some more work tonight, and I know you have all these remains…" Brennan looked at her carefully, and then nodded.

"If you want to."

A couple hours later, Brennan and Mel walked out of the office together, having identified yet another victim.

"I feel very satisfied Dr. Hart, how about you?" Brennan asked. Mel looked at the anthropologist's wide smile, a large improvement from her earlier distress.

"Yes, very satisfied Dr. B." She answered, starting to grin as well.

**Well, I hope you liked it! I'll just say, if anybody is reading this I would really appreciate a review. I'd like to know whether I should continue writing this…what people think of my OC. Even if it's just like, 'Boo! Your story sucks!' or 'Cool.' Of course, more detailed comments would be welcomed as well. **

**Bye,**

**AoiKuroNekoSan**


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